Coping with Impostor Syndrome
Shawn Oden | codefumonkey@gmail.com | @CodeFuMonkey | codefumonkey.com
Future Airline Pilot
Private Pilot (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Commercial Pilot (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Instrument Rating
Certified Flight Instructor (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Certified Flight Instructor (Instrument Rating)
Commercial Pilot (Airplane, Multi-Engine, Land)
Certified Flight Instructor (Airplane, Multi-Engine, Land)
Future Airline Pilot
??????????
Private Pilot (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Commercial Pilot (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Instrument Rating
Certified Flight Instructor (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Certified Flight Instructor (Instrument Rating)
Commercial Pilot (Airplane, Multi-Engine, Land)
Certified Flight Instructor (Airplane, Multi-Engine, Land)
Private Pilot (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Commercial Pilot (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Instrument Rating
Certified Flight Instructor (Airplane, Single Engine, Land)
Certified Flight Instructor (Instrument Rating)
Commercial Pilot (Airplane, Multi-Engine, Land)
Certified Flight Instructor (Airplane, Multi-Engine, Land)
DBA / Programmer
DBA / Programmer
CompTIA Security+
MCSE: Data Management & Analytics
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
Adobe ColdFusion Specialist
(Plus CFMX certs from Macromedia & Adobe)
Currently hold a U.S. DoD Security Clearance
Impostor
CompTIA Security+
MCSE: Data Management & Analytics
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
Adobe ColdFusion Specialist
(Plus CFMX certs from Macromedia & Adobe)
Currently hold a U.S. DoD Security Clearance
Impostor
CompTIA Security+
MCSE: Data Management & Analytics
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
Adobe ColdFusion Specialist
(Plus CFMX certs from Macromedia & Adobe)
Currently hold a U.S. DoD Security Clearance
function sayHi(whoami){
return "Hello," & whoami & "!" ;
}
writeoutput( sayHi("World") );Impostor
CompTIA Security+
MCSE: Data Management & Analytics
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
Adobe ColdFusion Specialist
(Plus CFMX certs from Macromedia & Adobe)
Currently hold a U.S. DoD Security Clearance
function sayHi(whoami){
return "Hello," & whoami & "!" ;
}
writeoutput( sayHi("World") );SELECT *Impostor
CompTIA Security+
MCSE: Data Management & Analytics
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Administration
MCSA: SQL 2016 Database Development
Adobe ColdFusion Specialist
(Plus CFMX certs from Macromedia & Adobe)
Currently hold a U.S. DoD Security Clearance
function sayHi(whoami){
return "Hello," & whoami & "!" ;
}
writeoutput( sayHi("World") );SELECT *What Is Impostor Syndrome?
What Does Impostor Syndrome Look Like?
Why Is It A Bad Thing?
How Can We Stop It?
The reason we struggle with insecurity is that we compare our behind-the-scenes with everyone else’s highlight reel.
- Steve Furtick - Pastor
How Can We Stop It?
Why Is It A Bad Thing?
What Does Impostor Syndrome Look Like?
What Is Impostor Syndrome?
All I can see is everything I'm doing wrong that is a sham and a fraud.
- Don Cheadle - Actor
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
I've fooled everyone into thinking I know what I'm doing.
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
I've fooled everyone into thinking I know what I'm doing.
I'm lucky I've made it to where I am.
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
I've fooled everyone into thinking I know what I'm doing.
I'm lucky I've made it to where I am.
If I work extra hard, I can stay under the radar.
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
I've fooled everyone into thinking I know what I'm doing.
I'm lucky I've made it to where I am.
If I work extra hard, I can stay under the radar.
The sooner I start a project, the sooner people will see I can't do it. So I procrastinate.
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
I've fooled everyone into thinking I know what I'm doing.
I'm lucky I've made it to where I am.
If I work extra hard, I can stay under the radar.
The sooner I start a project, the sooner people will see I can't do it. So I procrastinate.
I don't like working with other people because I don't want them to find out I don't really know what I'm doing.
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
I've fooled everyone into thinking I know what I'm doing.
Everyone around me is so much smarter than I am.
I'm lucky I've made it to where I am.
If I work extra hard, I can stay under the radar.
The sooner I start a project, the sooner people will see I can't do it. So I procrastinate.
I don't like working with other people because I don't want them to find out I don't really know what I'm doing.
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
I've fooled everyone into thinking I know what I'm doing.
Everyone around me is so much smarter than I am.
I'm lucky I've made it to where I am.
If I work extra hard, I can stay under the radar.
The sooner I start a project, the sooner people will see I can't do it. So I procrastinate.
I don't like working with other people because I don't want them to find out I don't really know what I'm doing.
Impostor Syndrome is the persistent inability to believe one's success is deserved or has been achieved as a result of one's own efforts or skills.
- Oxford English Dictionary
At least I haven't been caught yet.
...despite outstanding academic and professional accomplishments, many (people) who experience the imposter phenomenon persist in believing that they are really not bright and have fooled anyone who thinks otherwise.
– Pauline Rose Clance & Suzanne Imes
Q: Do you suffer from Impostor Syndrome?
How Can We Stop It?
Why Is It A Bad Thing?
What Does Impostor Syndrome Look Like?
What Is Impostor Syndrome?
I have spent my years ... not feeling completely a part of the worlds I inhabit. I am always looking over my shoulder wondering if I measure up.
- Sonia Sotomayor- Supreme Court Justice
Procrastination:
If I never start, then I can't fail.
If I never finish, then I can't fail.
Procrastination:
If I never start, then I can't fail.
If I never finish, then I can't fail.
Risk Aversion:
If I don't take a risk, then I can't fail.
If I take a risk, then I might fail.
Procrastination:
If I never start, then I can't fail.
If I never finish, then I can't fail.
Risk Aversion:
If I don't take a risk, then I can't fail.
If I take a risk, then I might fail.
Using Your Voice:
If I say something, then everyone might think I'm wrong.
If I don't say anything, then nobody will think I'm wrong.
Procrastination:
If I never start, then I can't fail.
If I never finish, then I can't fail.
Risk Aversion:
If I don't take a risk, then I can't fail.
If I take a risk, then I might fail.
Work Ethic:
If I work hard and fail, then I just wasn't good enough.
If I don't work hard and I fail, then I should have worked harder.
Using Your Voice:
If I say something, then everyone might think I'm wrong.
If I don't say anything, then nobody will think I'm wrong.
Procrastination:
If I never start, then I can't fail.
If I never finish, then I can't fail.
Risk Aversion:
If I don't take a risk, then I can't fail.
If I take a risk, then I might fail.
Competitiveness:
If I help my competition, then I lost because I helped them.
If I do it on my own, then the others were just better than me.
Work Ethic:
If I work hard and fail, then I just wasn't good enough.
If I don't work hard and I fail, then I should have worked harder.
Using Your Voice:
If I say something, then everyone might think I'm wrong.
If I don't say anything, then nobody will think I'm wrong.
WHICH ONE AM I?
Your struggle to use GenAI correctly rather than just quickly proves you aren't a fraud.
WARNING: AI-WRITTEN CONTENT DETECTED!!!
Felt most often by intelligent, capable people in a difficult career field or people in new positions.
Under-represented groups, like women and minorities, tend to feel Impostor Syndrome more intensely.
Felt most often by intelligent, capable people in a difficult career field or people in new positions.
Under-represented groups, like women and minorities, tend to feel Impostor Syndrome more intensely.
Broader research has shown it affects men just as often. Anyone is susceptible to Impostor Syndrome.
Felt most often by intelligent, capable people in a difficult career field or people in new positions.
Under-represented groups, like women and minorities, tend to feel Impostor Syndrome more intensely.
Broader research has shown it affects men just as often. Anyone is susceptible to Impostor Syndrome.
Roughly 70% of people have experienced Impostor Syndrome.
Felt most often by intelligent, capable people in a difficult career field or people in new positions.
Roughly 70% of people have experienced Impostor Syndrome.
Under-represented groups, like women and minorities, tend to feel Impostor Syndrome more intensely.
Broader research has shown it affects men just as often. Anyone is susceptible to Impostor Syndrome.
Roughly 70% of people have experienced Impostor Syndrome.
Felt most often by intelligent, capable people in a difficult career field or people in new positions.
Under-represented groups, like women and minorities, tend to feel Impostor Syndrome more intensely.
Broader research has shown it affects men just as often. Anyone is susceptible to Impostor Syndrome.
Felt most often by intelligent, capable people in a difficult career field or people in new positions.
Roughly 70% of people have experienced Impostor Syndrome.
I have written eleven books, but each time I think, 'Uh oh, they’re going to find out now. I’ve run a game on everybody
and they’re going to find me out.'
- Dr. Maya Angelou - Author
How Can We Stop It?
Why Is It A Bad Thing?
What Does Impostor Syndrome Look Like?
What Is Impostor Syndrome?
...organizations also pay a price when bright people play small, procrastinate, become workaholics or engage in other protecting mechanisms "imposters" use to cope with the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop.
- Dr. Valerie Young, EdD
...organizations also pay a price when bright people play small, procrastinate, become workaholics or engage in other protecting mechanisms "imposters" use to cope with the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop..
- Dr. Valerie Young, EdD
FOR THE EMPLOYEE
FOR THE EMPLOYER
FOR THE EMPLOYEE
...organizations also pay a price when bright people play small, procrastinate, become workaholics or engage in other protecting mechanisms "imposters" use to cope with the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop..
- Dr. Valerie Young, EdD
FOR THE EMPLOYER
FOR THE EMPLOYEE
...organizations also pay a price when bright people play small, procrastinate, become workaholics or engage in other protecting mechanisms "imposters" use to cope with the anxiety of waiting for the other shoe to drop..
- Dr. Valerie Young, EdD
Feeling fraudulent is a sign you are being challenged. And when we're challenged that's when we make breakthroughs.
– Farah Storr, Editor (Elle Magazine - UK) & Author
https://www.elle.com/uk/.../imposter-syndrome-every-womans-secret-weapon/
How Can We Stop It?
Why Is It A Bad Thing?
What Does Impostor Syndrome Look Like?
What Is Impostor Syndrome?
I still sometimes feel like a loser kid in high school and I just have to pick myself up and tell myself that I'm a superstar every morning so that I can get through this day and be for my fans what they need for me to be.
- Lady Gaga - Musician
You Are Not Alone
Tom Hanks, Sheryl Sandberg, Lady Gaga, Maisie Williams,
Barbara Corcoran, Tina Fey, Agatha Christie, Lupita Nyong'o,
Emma Watson, Arianna Huffington, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron,
Serena Williams, Seth Godin, Kate Winslet, Renée Zellweger,
Amy Poehler, Amy Adams, Michelle Williams, Jennifer Lopez
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Michelle Obama, David Bowie, Maya Angelou .....
Tom Hanks, Sheryl Sandberg, Lady Gaga, Maisie Williams,
Barbara Corcoran, Tina Fey, Agatha Christie, Lupita Nyong'o,
Emma Watson, Arianna Huffington, Robert Pattinson, Charlize Theron,
Serena Williams, Seth Godin, Kate Winslet, Renée Zellweger,
Amy Poehler, Amy Adams, Michelle Williams, Jennifer Lopez
Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Michelle Obama, David Bowie, Maya Angelou .....
Natalie Portman:
When I got to Harvard just after the release of Star Wars: Episode 1, I feared people would assume I had gotten in just for being famous, and not worthy of the intellectual rigor here.
When I won the Oscar, I thought it was a fluke. I thought everybody would find out, and they’d take it back. They'd come to my house, knocking on the door, "Excuse me, we meant to give that to someone else. That was going to
Meryl Streep.
- Jodie Foster- Actor
You think, "Why would anyone want to see me again in a movie? And I don't know how to act anyway, so why am I doing this?"
- Meryl Streep - Actor
When I won the Oscar, I thought it was a fluke. I thought everybody would find out, and they’d take it back. They'd come to my house, knocking on the door, "Excuse me, we meant to give that to someone else. That was going to
Meryl Streep.
- Jodie Foster- Actor
Neil Gaiman - Author
Some years ago, I was lucky enough [to be] invited to a gathering of great and good people: artists and scientists, writers and discoverers of things. And I felt that at any moment they would realise that I didn’t qualify to be there, among these people who had really done things.
On my second or third night there, I was standing at the back of the hall, while a musical entertainment happened, and I started talking to a very nice, polite, elderly gentleman about several things, including our shared first name. And then he pointed to the hall of people, and said words to the effect of, “I just look at all these people, and I think, what the heck am I
doing here? They’ve made amazing things. I just went where I was sent.”
Neil Stephensen, Neil Armstrong and Neil Gaiman
I just went where I was sent.
- Neil Armstrong
This perfectionism, this constant need to verify, to reflect, to anticipate disaster before it strikes, it’s not just anxiety (as we’re often the calmest during the chaos) it’s what keeps systems running. It’s what lets organizations trust their data and make decisions without fear.
.....
We’re not broken; we’re built for resilience, persistence and removal of human error whenever possible.
– Kellyn Gorman, DBA Kevlar
https://www.sqlservercentral.com/editorials/the-mindset-of-a-database-administrator-a-love-letter-to-risk-aversion
Just Remember:
Nobody can tell you to stop being an Impostor.
You have to convince yourself.
Just Remember:
Nobody can tell you to stop being an Impostor.
You have to convince yourself.
Actual Frauds Don't Have Impostor Syndrome
YOU GOT THIS
TAKE YOUR STEP
Shawn Oden | codefumonkey@gmail.com | @CodeFuMonkey | codefumonkey.com
“The only way to stop feeling like an impostor,
is to stop thinking like an impostor.”
- Dr. Valerie Young
Slides can be found at https://slides.com/codefumonkey/hftts-dod_stl_26
Please leave me some feedback.
Note: Impostors like nice feedback.
I'm Just Here For The T-Shirt
Shawn Oden | codefumonkey@gmail.com | @CodeFuMonkey | codefumonkey.com
We gratefully acknowledge the generous support of our sponsors.
Their partnership makes this even possible.
By Shawn Oden
I've been a professional geek for over 20 years, but I still feel like I'm out of my zone. Technology moves so fast. There are so many things to know. Everyone is so much smarter than me. I don't know what I'm doing, and it's just a matter of time before someone finds me out. Or something like that. Imposter Syndrome is a problem. But it can be dealt with. (Presented at Day of Data - St. Louis - Oct 2026)
